Power and Politics

Many of the leaders in our society are guided by unhealthy intentions. Instead of seeking to serve the people and heal our nation’s ills, their actions and decisions are primarily motivated by their desire for power. Many of the people running our country are run by their addictions to approval, sex, power and control. Unfortunately, few truly healthy individuals want to submit themselves to the necessary abuses inherent to our political races – the verbal abuse both given and received, the huge amounts of money spent, the integrity sacrificed through the concessions, lies and manipulations offered in order to win. Our system of electing our officials is so corrupt that there is little possibility of attracting a person with a strong, personally responsible, loving inner adult self. This is not to say that none of our elected representatives are honest and caring. Some are certainly motivated by positive intentions but, unfortunately, they constitute a minority.

There is no training required in personal responsibility to run for office. Our leaders are not required to heal their dysfunctional aspects in order to become honest and trustworthy people. The prerequisites for political positions mostly include having enough money, enough powerful people behind the scenes, being male, and being white.

Our political arena is designed to attract wounded people who need approval and power in order to feel worthy and validated. Obviously, such a person, with little or no internally derived sense of self-worth and integrity, is very susceptible to corruption. As the adage says: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Power corrupts when a person is motivated by his or her desire for power over others, and few people have accomplished enough inner healing to transcend the desire for control over others.

A healthy person in office who is more concerned with serving the people than with getting re-elected could accomplish a great deal. Such a person was depicted in the movie Dave. In this film the actual president is in a coma and the White House officials, seeking to conceal the truth from the public so they can maintain control, put a look-alike into the president’s seat. Dave, however, is a man of heart, and rather than allowing himself to be controlled he sets about making necessary changes – cutting money where it is not needed and allocating it into more crucial avenues, like child care and the creation of jobs. He even takes responsibility for the corruption of the actual president and gracefully “dies” as the actual president is dying so the vice-president, a man of great integrity who was maligned by the power structure, could take over in his rightful place. The movie is, of course, a fantasy. Sadly, we would never elect a man of such integrity – a straightforward, honest, caring, and financially middle-class man like Dave. Our election process does not allow for this.

Revamping our election process would give people like Dave an opportunity to run for office. We desperately need people who care more for the common good than for their own popularity. We need brilliant, creative, honest and caring people to lead our country, but this will never happen with our present election system. We have incredible talent in this great country of ours, talent that could eliminate hunger and homelessness, and heal the internal wounds that create health problems, drug abuse, racism, violence and crime. But this talent is rarely tapped because running our country has been based on the earthly values of greed and power over others rather than the spiritual values of honesty, compassion and caring.

Unfortunately, neither our government nor most big businesses are based on the spiritual principles of compassion and caring about the common good. I have no doubt that if our government was based on spiritual principles we would not have the hunger, homelessness, crime, health problems, and drug abuse that are endemic to our modern society.

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?”, “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By My Kids?”, “Healing Your Aloneness”, “Inner Bonding”, and “Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By God?” Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com

About The Author

Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is a best-selling author of 8 books and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Dr. Margaret Paul is the author/co-author of numerous best-selling books, including: Do I Have To Give Up Me to Be Loved By You?, Do I Have To Give Up Me to Be Loved By My Kids?, and Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By God? Margaret holds a Ph.D. in psychology and is a relationship expert, public speaker, seminar leader, consultant, facilitator, and artist. She has appeared on many radio and TV shows, including the Oprah show. She has successfully worked with thousands of individuals, couples and business relationships and taught classes and seminars for over 42 years. Dr. Paul’s books have been distributed around the world and have been translated into many languages. After practicing traditional psychotherapy for 17 years, Margaret was discouraged by the results – both for her clients and herself. She had spent years trying to heal from her own dysfunctional and abusive background, but found herself still suffering with anxiety and relationship problems. She started to seek a process that works fast, deep, creates permanent change, loving relationships, inner peace, and joy. In 1984, she met and became friends with Dr. Erika Chopich, who had half the Inner Bonding® process, and Margaret had the other half! They have been evolving this incredibly powerful healing process for the last 26 years. Margaret works with individuals and couples throughout the world – on the phone, in workshops and 5-Day Intensives, and with members of Inner Bonding Village at innerbonding.com. She is able to access spiritual Guidance during her sessions, which enables her to work with people wherever they are in the world. Dr. Margaret has just completed a 12 year project call SelfQuest®, which is a transformational self-healing/conflict resolution software program. SelfQuest® is being donated to prisons and schools and sold to individuals, families, and businesses. You can read about SelfQuest® and see a short video of it at selfquest.com. In her spare time, Margaret loves to paint, make pottery, take photos, watch birds, read, ride and play with her horses, and spend time with her children and grandchildren.